Sufi Abdul Hamid
Encyclopedia
Sufi Abdul Hamid (January 6, 1903 in Lowell, Massachusetts
- July 30, 1938) was an African-American religious and labor leader, and among the first African converts to Islam
, accused of Anti-Semitism
. He is best known for his role in the business boycotts in Harlem
in the early 1930s that were designed to draw attention to discriminatory employment practices of white, mainly Jewish business owners.
In Chicago he styled himself Bishop Conshankin, a Buddhist cleric, then moved to New York in 1932, taking up residence in Harlem. Despite converting to Islam, he probably had no connection with the Nation of Islam
. He eventually styled himself His Holiness Bishop Amiru Al-Mu-Minin Sufi A. Hamid, and his press man claimed that he had been born in Egypt beneath the shadow of a pyramid. He sported a mustache, and dressed flamboyantly, wearing a Nazi-style military shirt, gold-lined cape, purple turban, and a dagger in his belt.
During the Great Depression
, unemployment among blacks in Harlem
reached 50%. Hamid initiated an effort to encourage white business owners in Harlem to hire black workers, often picketing stores and giving speeches on street corners.
Hamid especially targeted Jewish store owners, and encouraged black shoppers to boycott certain stores that did not hire blacks, intimidating them into hiring workers from his own private labor union. His usual modus operandi was to collect one dollar dues from each unemployed black worker who wanted a job at a store before starting his pressure campaign to get them hired. Eventually he became wealthy.
He was openly anti-Semitic. Giving speeches from stepladders on 125th Street, he declared himself the only man who could stop the Jews, accusing them of spreading filth and disease, and calling on his followers to tear out the tongue of any Jew they met. He boasted that he was the "only one fit to carry on the war against the Jews", and vowed an "an open bloody war against the Jews who are much worse than all other whites." This caused him to be known as the "Black Hitler".
After Jewish store owners met with New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, Hamid was arrested, but later released.
His union changed names many times, from the Negro Industrial and Clerical Alliance to the Afro-American Federation of Labor. Adam Clayton Powell briefly joined forces with him in labor protests and store boycotts, and broke ranks when his rhetoric moved beyond targeting whites and Jews to light-skinned blacks.
Violent clashes with rival black unions led to Hamid's arrest for stabbing Hammie Snipes, a former follower of Marcus Garvey
who became a Communist labor union organizer.
He allegedly had a role in organizing the Harlem Riot of 1935
, Harlem's first race riot, which destroyed 200 businesses and cost $2 million in damage.
Eventually the courts barred Hamid from his picketing, forcing him to focus his energies on his mosque, the Universal Holy Temple of Tranquility, where he dubbed himself a bishop, causing his nickname to change from the Black Hitler to the Black Mufti.
He married Stephanie St. Clair
, who ran Harlem's numbers racket. After she shot him, he divorced her and married candle shop owner and fortune-teller Dorothy Hamid, who styled herself Madame Fu Futtam, and claimed to be Asian.
By 1938, Hamid had his own private airplane and a white secretary. Attempting to assuage followers that the luxury of owning it was mitigated by keeping it low on fuel, he died in an airplane crash while piloting his own plane; his secretary survived with only a broken elbow.
After his death, his widow attempt to keep the mosque going by claiming nightly visitations by him from beyond the grave, predicting that he would return in sixty days, which didn't come true. Not long after the mosque became a dance hall featuring a one-legged dancer. Today the site at 103 Morningside Avenue is the home of St. Luke's Baptist Church.
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
- July 30, 1938) was an African-American religious and labor leader, and among the first African converts to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, accused of Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
. He is best known for his role in the business boycotts in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
in the early 1930s that were designed to draw attention to discriminatory employment practices of white, mainly Jewish business owners.
In Chicago he styled himself Bishop Conshankin, a Buddhist cleric, then moved to New York in 1932, taking up residence in Harlem. Despite converting to Islam, he probably had no connection with the Nation of Islam
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
. He eventually styled himself His Holiness Bishop Amiru Al-Mu-Minin Sufi A. Hamid, and his press man claimed that he had been born in Egypt beneath the shadow of a pyramid. He sported a mustache, and dressed flamboyantly, wearing a Nazi-style military shirt, gold-lined cape, purple turban, and a dagger in his belt.
During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, unemployment among blacks in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
reached 50%. Hamid initiated an effort to encourage white business owners in Harlem to hire black workers, often picketing stores and giving speeches on street corners.
Hamid especially targeted Jewish store owners, and encouraged black shoppers to boycott certain stores that did not hire blacks, intimidating them into hiring workers from his own private labor union. His usual modus operandi was to collect one dollar dues from each unemployed black worker who wanted a job at a store before starting his pressure campaign to get them hired. Eventually he became wealthy.
He was openly anti-Semitic. Giving speeches from stepladders on 125th Street, he declared himself the only man who could stop the Jews, accusing them of spreading filth and disease, and calling on his followers to tear out the tongue of any Jew they met. He boasted that he was the "only one fit to carry on the war against the Jews", and vowed an "an open bloody war against the Jews who are much worse than all other whites." This caused him to be known as the "Black Hitler".
After Jewish store owners met with New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, Hamid was arrested, but later released.
His union changed names many times, from the Negro Industrial and Clerical Alliance to the Afro-American Federation of Labor. Adam Clayton Powell briefly joined forces with him in labor protests and store boycotts, and broke ranks when his rhetoric moved beyond targeting whites and Jews to light-skinned blacks.
Violent clashes with rival black unions led to Hamid's arrest for stabbing Hammie Snipes, a former follower of Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
who became a Communist labor union organizer.
He allegedly had a role in organizing the Harlem Riot of 1935
Harlem Riot of 1935
The Harlem Riot of 1935 was Harlem's first race riot, sparked off by rumors of the beating of a teenage shoplifter. Three died, hundreds were wounded and an estimated $2 million in damages were sustained to properties throughout the district, with African-American owned homes and businesses spared...
, Harlem's first race riot, which destroyed 200 businesses and cost $2 million in damage.
Eventually the courts barred Hamid from his picketing, forcing him to focus his energies on his mosque, the Universal Holy Temple of Tranquility, where he dubbed himself a bishop, causing his nickname to change from the Black Hitler to the Black Mufti.
He married Stephanie St. Clair
Stephanie St. Clair
Stephanie St. Clair was a bookmaker in Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood.-Early life:Madam St. Clair was born of mixed French and African descent on Martinique. She immigrated to the United States via Marseilles in 1912 and ten years later took $10,000 of her own money and set up a numbers bank in...
, who ran Harlem's numbers racket. After she shot him, he divorced her and married candle shop owner and fortune-teller Dorothy Hamid, who styled herself Madame Fu Futtam, and claimed to be Asian.
By 1938, Hamid had his own private airplane and a white secretary. Attempting to assuage followers that the luxury of owning it was mitigated by keeping it low on fuel, he died in an airplane crash while piloting his own plane; his secretary survived with only a broken elbow.
After his death, his widow attempt to keep the mosque going by claiming nightly visitations by him from beyond the grave, predicting that he would return in sixty days, which didn't come true. Not long after the mosque became a dance hall featuring a one-legged dancer. Today the site at 103 Morningside Avenue is the home of St. Luke's Baptist Church.